It’s been a lost season for the Boston Red Sox, but most important, one of their beloved sons, David Ortiz, has used the summer to recover. Ortiz, who was shot in a mysterious apparent assassination attempt in June, came full circle Monday night when he returned to Fenway Park as a surprise guest. He threw out the first pitch and received, of course, a huge ovation.
The Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees and officially eliminated themselves from the AL East race, but never mind that. Ortiz is healthy and back on his feet, and that’s plenty of reason for the Fenway Faithful to celebrate.
Red Sox legend David Ortiz throws out first pitch at Fenway three months after being shot in the Dominican Republic https://t.co/hRJccdx1rQ pic.twitter.com/eWTKOYvbJ9
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 10, 2019
Big Papi pitches
Ortiz looked thinner but healthy. He wore a Red Sox jersey with black pants in his first public appearance since that fateful night in early June.
He threw his first pitch to another old Red Sox hero, catcher Jason Varitek, then took a microphone to thank the fans for their prayers.
“I want to thank all of you for all the prayers,” Ortiz said, according to the Associated Press. “I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. I want to thank my former teammates for being there for me. So, a lot of them came home to check up on my boy. Also, I want to thank the Yankees, a lot of my boys over there and checked up on Big Papi. Thank you very much, appreciate it. CC (Sabathia), (Edwin) Encarnación. Thank you very much. God bless you all. Go Sox.”
WATCH: David Ortiz returns to Fenway, making his first public appearance since being shot in the Dominican Republic.
He throws the first pitch and addresses the crowd. Courtesy: NESN pic.twitter.com/q8Ayaegsrq
— Yianni Kourakis (@YianniKourakis) September 9, 2019
A whirlwind
The Red Sox have been through quite a month already.
On the field, they’ve gone 3-5 to end any real chance of making the postseason to defend their World Series title and are eight games behind the A’s for the final AL wild-card spot with just 18 games to play.
Off the field, the Red Sox fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, essentially charting a new, uncertain path for their future.
But somehow Big Papi’s presence makes it all better.
We’re not crying, you’re crying! #BigPapi | @davidortiz pic.twitter.com/5vRPCpRs26
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 10, 2019
